Method of and apparatus for the cleaning of fibers



Sept. 5, 1967 M. M. BRYAN, .1R

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE CLEANING OF FIBERS Filed sept. s, 1965 sheets-sheet 1 my. Nom n lwfw Mw. ,W, w UM M mllwripwmH/H I w1 .m i

ATTORNEYS 1 Sept. `5, 1967 M M BRYAN, JR v 3,339,245

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE CLEANING OFFIBERS Filed Sept.` 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nNvENToR MORRIS M. BRYAN Jr.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,339,245 METHOD or AND APPARATUS Fon THE CLEANING F FIBERS Morris M. Bryan, Jr., Jefferson, Ga., assignor to The Jefferson Mills, Inc., Jefferson, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Filed Sept. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 485,786 Claims. (Cl. 19-200) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 'Ihis invention relates generally to the cleaning of fibers for use in the textile industry and more particularly to a method of and apparatus for the cleaning of cotton fibers wherein a thin ribbon of parallelized cotton fibers is moved over a curved torturous path so that centrifugal force cleans the fibers by `discharging foreign matter from the ribbon.

Hereto'fore, cleaning machines have usually been utilized in the preparation of cotton fibers for further processing such as drafting, spinning or the like before the cotton fibers are fed into a carding machine. All of these machines have tried to clean the cotton by first tearing the uncleaned cotton into small masses of cotton fibers and subsequently exerting forces on these small masses of uncleaned cotton bers to try to force the foreign matter from the fibers. These machines have, however, proved unsuccessful in the desired cleaning of the cotton since it was found that the foreign matter was extremely hard to separate from these small masses of cotton fibers.

The apparatus and method of the present invention overcome these and other Iproblems associated with previous cleaning machines by cleaning the foreign matter from the cotton fibers after passage through the carding machine. Because the cotton fibers form a thin continuous web of partially parallelized cotton fibers after passage through the carding machine, the foreign matter can be more easily removed from the web of cotton fibers than from the small masses of cotton due to the fact that the foreign matter need be displaced only a very small amount to be `discharged from the web. Moreover, the more the cotton fibers in the web are parallelized, the easier the foreign matter is displaced within the web.

Since the web of cotton fibers is relatively wide and extremely thin when it leaves the carding machine, it is somewhat fragile and therefore susceptible to tearing under forces exerted thereon. Moreover, the cotton fibers of the web are only partially parallelized by the carding machine so that optimum parallelization Ifor cleaning is not accomplished. In order to increase the strength of the web, the web is first compactedinto a narrower, thicker ribbon. The narrower, thicker ribbon is then stretched or pulled so that, although the width of the ribbon remains substantially the same, the length of the web is substantially lengthened. This serves to parallelize substantially all of the cotton fibers of the ribbon so that optimum cleaning may be effected.

The stretched ribbon is then pulled around a series of spaced rolls having a staggered arrangement whereby the 3,339,245 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 rate of travel of the cotton ribbon in combination with the tortuous path over which it is forced to travel around the rolls causes large angular accelerations of the ribbon. This in turn causes large centrifugal forces to be exerted by the ribbon and these forces are sufficient to cause any foreign matter that may be trapped within the ribbon to be thrown free of the ribbon yet are not so great as to cause the ribbon of cotton fibers to be torn apart. This is possible since the specific weight of the foreign matter is almost alawys greater than that of the cotton fibers and therefore will always exert a greater centrifugal force than will the cotton fibers.

The apparatus of this invention comprises generally a series of spaced rolls around which the ribbon of parallelized cotton fibers is pulled. The rolls are arranged in a staggered manner so that large centrifugal forces are exerted by the ribbon during passage around the rolls. The particular arrangement and size of the yrolls will, of course, vary as the rate of linear movement of the web changes in order to define the particular range of centrifugal forces that the ribbon and foreign matter will exert as set forth above. The rolls are mounted so that they are freely rotatable and some of the rolls `are removably attached to facilitate threading the ribbon around the rolls. Moreover, the apparatus is relatively simple and therefore easily and inexpensively manufactured.

These and other 'features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawing in which like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the centrifugal cleaning section of that embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

These figures and the following detailed description disclose one specific embodiment o'f the invention, however, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details set yforth herein since it may be embodied in other specific forms.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that a conventional carding machine is shown at 10 having a carding roll 11 and a dofiing roll 12. both of conventional design. IUncleaned cotton fibers lare fed directly from a conventional bale into the carding machine 10 wherein the cotton fibers are carded in conventional manner and subsequently doffed from the carding roll 11 as a relatively wide and extremely thin web 14 of uncleaned cotton fibers containing foreign matter. The cotton fibers are partially parallelized in the carding machine 10` but are not parallelized to the desired degree for optimum cleanlng.

Since the web 14 is extremely thin and wide, it is difiicult to handle and forces exerted thereon to try to clean the foreign matter from the web 14 tend to easily tear or fracture the web. yIn order to increase the strength of the web 14, it is passed through a forming section A which folds the web 14 to increase its strength.

The folding section A comprises a pair of trumpets 15 and 19 of conventional design and a pressing roll 18 to flatten the web 14 after being folded. As the web 14 is removed from the doliing roll 12, it passes through the trumpet 15 which reduces the web 14 to one half of its original size by folding one-fourth of the width of the web 'along each side thereof back over the other half of the web. After passa-ge through the trumpet 15, the web 14 becomes a relatively thick web 16 as compared with the web 14. The web 16 is then passed against a pressing roll 18 to press the web 16 fiat. The web 16 is now approximately one-half the width of the original web 14 and has a thickness substantially twice that of the web 14. The web 16 then passes through the second trumpet 19 which again reduces the web 16 to approximately onehalf of its original width, this width being approximately six inches if the web 14 is from most conventional carding machines. The reduced web 16, now designated as the ribbon 20, is quite sufficient in strength to withstand the forces exerted thereon Ias the ribbon 20 is being cleaned.

Although the ribbon 20 has sufficient stren-gth to withstand the forces exerted thereon during cleaning, it is difficult to fully clean since the ribbon is so thick that part of the foreign matter must move a substantial amount through the cotton fibers of the ribbon 20 to be discharged therefrom. Moreover, the cotton fibers are only partially parallelized in the ribbon 20 thereby incre-asing the difficulty of the removal of the foreign matter from the ribbon 20. In order to overcome these difficulties, the ribbon 20 is then passed through an elongation and parallelization section C which both thins the ribbon 20 and parallelizes substantially all of the cotton fibers.

The elongation and parallelization section C comprises a first set of calender rolls 21 and a second set of calender rolls 22 spaced from the rolls 21. The ribbon 20 passes between the first pair of calender rolls 21 after leaving the forming section A which presses the ribbon 20 into a relatively iiat compacted ribbon 24. The second pair of calender rolls 22 rotate at a greater speed than the first pair of calender rolls 21 and receive the ribbon 24 therebetween as it leaves the first set of calender rolls 21. This serves to stretch the ribbon 24 into a ribbon 25 which is thinner, and the cotton fibers thereof are more parallelized than in the ribbon 24. The ribbon 25, although thinner than the ribbon 24, is still sufficiently strong to be subsequently cleaned without tearing. This is due partly to the intermeshing of the cotton fibers produced when the ribbon 24 is thinned.

The elongation and parallelization section C elongates the ribbon 24 so that the resulting ribbon 25 is substantially only one cotton fiber thick. It has been found that the thinner the ribbon 25, the easier the foreign matter is discharged therefrom. In elongating the ribbon 24, substantially all of the cotton fibers are parallelized. This further facilitates Iche removal of the foreign matter from the ribbon 25.

As the ribbon 25 leaves the calender rolls 22, it is fed into the centrifugal cleaning section B wherein the foreign matter within the ribbon 25 is thrown from the ribbon by centrifugal forces. rIhe cleaning section B comprises a series of rolls 26 arranged in a staggered path so that angular accelerations are induced in the ribbon 25 as the ribbon 25 passes over the path defined by the rolls 26. This in turn causes the ribbon 25 to exert lar-ge centrifugal forces outwardly. The rolls 26 are mounted on axles 28 so that they are freely rotatable, and the axles 28 are mounted ron an upright support 29. The upright support 29 is carried by a base 30 which permits the entire cleaning section B to be easily positioned in the path of travel of the ribbon 25.

The diameters of the rolls 26 are such that rather large centrifugal forces are exerted by the ribbon 25 'and foreign matter in the ribbon 25 as the ribbon 25 passes partially around each of the rolls 26. These forces are sufiicient to discharge the foreign matter from the ribbon 25, yet are not sufficient to cause the ribbon 25 to break up by the separation of the cotton fibers of the ribbon. The particular diameters of the rolls 26, of course, depend on the velocity or rate of linear movement of the cotton ribbon 25 through the cleaning section B since the centrifugal forces exerted by the ribbon 25 and the foreign matter therein is directly proportional to the square of the velocity of the ribbon 25 and to the diameters of the rolls 26. Therefore, since the output from a particular carding machine is substantially constant under operating conditions, the diameters of the rolls 26 may be varied until the proper centrifugal forces are exerted by the ribbon 25 land the foreign matter therein for discharging the foreign matter from the ribbon 25 yet not cause the cotton ribbon 25 to separate or tear.

The particular range of centrifugal forces required to discharge the foreign matter from the ribbon 25 is deter mined by the difference in the mass or weight between the foreign matter and the cotton fibers. Since this difference is usually significant, the permissive range of centrifugal forces necessary is usually large. Therefore, substantially all of the foreign matter is removed from the ribbon 25 before any problems are encountered with the cotton fibers of the ribbon 25 separating.

After passage over the first roll 26 and under the second roll 26, the ribbon 25 then passes under the third roll 26 which is spaced horizontally from and to the right of the second roll 26 as seen in FIG. l. The partially cleaned ribbon 25 then passes upward and over the fourth roll 26. The fifth roll 26 forces the ribbon 25 to pass partially around the fourth roll 26 as was done so that the further cleaning of the foreign matter from the ribbon 25 is accomplished as the ribbon 25 passes partially around each of the rolls 26. After passa-ge over the rolls 26, the ribbon 25 has been sufficiently cleaned and is ready for further processing.

A first collector 31 is provided adjacent the first roll 26 so that foreign matter discharged from the ribbon 25 as it passes over the roll 26 is caught in the collector 31 rather than being thrown on the partially cleaned ribbon 25 as it passes from the third roll 26 to the fourth roll 26. The collector 31 is substantially L-shaped having a horizontally extending leg 32 positioned partially under the first roll 26 and an upstanding leg 34 integral with and extending upwardly from the outer end of the leg 32 as shown in FIG. 1. An air line 35 is connected to a conventional source of pressurized air and supplies an air blast -across 'and above the leg 32 so that the collected foreign matter from the ribbon 25 is discharged from the collector 31 through its open front side. The upstanding leg 34 serves principally as a baie to deflect the foreign matter discharged from the ribbon 25 in passage over the first roll 26 onto the leg 32 to preclude the foreign matter from being caught in the partially cleaned ribbon 25 as it passes to the fourth roll 26.

A second collector 36 is provided adjacent the fourth roll 26 so as to catch foreign matter discharged from the ribbon 25 as it passes over the fourth roll 26. The collector 36 comprises -a first horizontally extending bafiie 38 extending above and over the fourth roll 26 as seen in FIG. 1, a vertically extending batiie 39 integral with and extending downwardly from the right end of the baflie 38 as seen in FIG. l and a slightly curved substantially horizontally extending catch plate 40 extending from the lower end of the baflie 39 to a point under the fourth roll 26. The collector 36 is open on its front side and has an air line 41 communicating with the collector 36 and a conventional pressurized air supply so that a blast of air through the line 41 will flush the foreign matter from the collector 36.

The axles 28 which carry the cleaning rolls 26 are removably carried by the support 29 so that the rolls 26 may be removed to facilitate easier threading of the ribbon 25 through the cleaning section B. Although freely rotatable rolls are used in the specific embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, it is understood that other means may be used to define the arcuate path over which the ribbon 25 must travel in order that centrifugal force exerted by the ribbon and foreign mater therein remove the foreign matter from the ribbon 25. Moreover, the rolls 26 may be driven to force the ribbon 25 through the cleaning section B.

As the ribbon 2S leaves the cleaning section B, it may be directly transported to other equipment for subsequent operations or may be formed into a sliver for subsequent operations. Since drafting has been performed on the cotton ribbon 25 prior to cleaning, it -is ready for passage through a roving frame or a spinning frame. The specific embodiment of the invention shown herein discloses the ribbon 25 being passed throu-gh a trumpet 42 which forms a sliver 46 from the ribbon 25. The sliver 46 is then fed into -a conventional coiler 44 which coils the sliver in a conventional can 45. The coiler 44 disclosed herein serves as the power source to pull the ribbon 25 from the section C through the cleaning section B, it being understood, however, that other convenient means may be used for the power means.

Operation In operation, it will be seen that the web 14 is formed into a ribbon 20 by the trumpets 15 and 19 after it leaves the carding machine 10. Since the cotton fibers of the ribbon 20 are only partially parallelized by the carding operation, the ribbon 20 is fed into the calender rolls 21 and 22 which serve as a drafting means for drafting the ribbon 20 into a ribbon 25 which is substantially thinner than the ribbon 20 and in which the cotton fibers have been substantially parallelized. 'Ihe ribbon 25 is approximately one cotton fiber thick since this thickness tends to give optimum cleaning of the cotton fibers; however, some cleaning of the cotton fibers will result even if the cotton ribbon 25 is substantially more than one cotton fiber thick.

The parallelized ribbon 25 is then passed in sequence over the plurality of angularly disposed paths which form the curved tortuous path defined by the rolls 26 of the cleaning section B. As the ribbon 25 passes over the cleaning rolls 26, foreign matter such as trash and the like is discharged from the ribbon 25 into the collectors 31 and 36. The air supplied through the lines 35 and 41 then flushes this foreign matter from the collectors 31 and 36 to prevent any buildup of foreign matter in the collectors.

After the ribbon 25 has been cleaned by the cleaning section B, it is then transferred t-o other equipment for subsequent processing. Usually the ribbon 25 is formed into a sliver 46 by the trumpet 42, since -a sliver 46 is used in most subsequent operations such as coiling, warping, or spinning. The sliver 46 described in this specific embodiment is fed into la coiler 46 but may easily be fed into other apparatus. The coiler 46 serves as a drive means to pull the ribbon 25 through lthe cleaning section B but other convenient means may be used.

The ribbon 25 is threaded in the cleaning section B by first removing the first and fourth rolls 26 as shown in FIG. 3 and draping the ribbon 25 so that it passes under the remaining rolls 26. The free end of the ribbon 25 is then fed into the coiler 46. The first and fourth cleaning rolls 2-6 are replaced by moving the rolls 26 up under the ribbon 25 and pushing the shafts 28 through the support 29 to lock the rolls 26 in place. The threading is now complete and the oper-ation is ready to begin.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiments here chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed as my invention is:

1. In a method of cleaning fibers, the steps of folding a thin web -of said fibers upon itself to form a first ribbon which is thick and substantially uniform in -strength relative to said web, drafting said first ribbon to form a second ribbon which is thin relative to said first ribbon and in which fibers have increased parallelization relative-to fibers in said first ribbon, passing said second ribbon continuously and in sequence along a plurality of angularly disposed paths at a velocity which causes foreign matter to separate from fibers in said second ribbon by centrifugal force as said second ribbon changes direction in passing from one of said plurality of angularly disposed paths to another of said plurality of angularly disposed paths, and collecting foreign matter separating from fibers in said second ribbon as said second ribbon passes along said plurality of angularly disposed paths.

2. The method of claim 1 including passing said second ribbon from one of said plurality of angularly disposed paths to another of said plurality of angularly disposed paths over an arcuate surface.

3. The method of claim 1 in which said folding a thin web of said fibers upon itself includes folding -said web inwardly upon itself a plurality of times.

4. The method of claim 3 including pressing said first ribbon prior to drafting of said first ribbon.

5. The method of claim 4 including forming said thin web with a carding machine.

6. The method of claim 1 including condensing said second ribbon into a sliver subsequent to said second riblon passing along said plurality of angularly disposed pat s.

7. In an apparatus for cleaning fibers, folding means for folding a thin web of fibers upon itself to form a first ribbon which is thick and substantially uniform in strength relative to said web, drafting means for drafting said first ribbon to form a second ribbon which is thin relative to said first ribbon and in which fibers have increased paralleliziation relative to fibers in said first ribbon, separating means for separating foreign matter from fibers in said second ribbon by centrifugal force applied to said second ribbon as said second ribbon passes continuouly in sequence along a plurality of angularly disposed paths, and means for collecting foreign matter positioned adjacent said second ribbon as said second ribbor;1 passes along said plurality of angularly disposed pat s.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which said folding means includes a plurality of means for folding said web upon itself positioned to receive and fold said web in sequence.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 including pressing means for pressing said web as said Web passes from one to another of said plurality of means for folding said web.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 in which said separating means includes a plurality of spaced rollers about which said second ribbon passes from one of said plurality of angularly disposed paths to another of said plurality of angularly disposed paths.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,513,301 7/1950 Fairbairn 19 98 FOREIGN PATENTS 915,191 7/1954 Germany. 300,530 11/1928 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. C. WADDEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A METHOD OF CLEANING FIBERS, THE STEP OF FOLDING A THIN WEB OS SAID FIBERS UPON ITSELF TO FORM A FIRST RIBBON WHICH IS THICK AND SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM IN STRENGTH RELATIVE TO SAID WEB, DRAFTING SAID FIRST RIBBON TO FORM A SECOND RIBBON WHICH IS THIN RELATIVE TO SAID FIRST RIBBON AND IN WHICH FIBERS HAVE INCREASED PARALLELIZATION RELATIVE TO FIBERS IN SAID FIRST RIBBON, PASSING SAID SECOND RIBBON CONTINUOUSLY AND IN SEQUENCE ALONG A PLURALITY OF ANGULARLY DISPOSED PATHS AT A VELOCITY WHICH CAUSES FOREIGN MATTER TO SEPARATE FROM FIBERS IN SAID SECOND RIBBON BY 